Work Diary - Mapplethorpe Studio

Evaluation

Using the photography studio to take photographs that Robert Mapplethorpe had inspired was definitely a positive aspect. During this shoot, I was able to use a block colour background in the background of the photograph's subject. I could also use the lights to create darker and lighter areas of the subject's face. This was a main element of the shoot in order to capture picture's that looked dark in the background and light in the foreground. I used a black backdrop in all of my straight images because I felt that this was a more appropriate colour to use considering Mapplethorpe's images include no colour. Although he was my inspiration for this shoot, I didn't find it very interesting. All I seemed to be doing was guiding those who were in my pictures to perform different actions or poses and for me this wasn't as interesting as previous shoots. I ran out of ideas and had to improvise my pictures hoping that they'd have some form of inspiration by Mapplethorpe in there somewhere. This was definitely a negative, however I was a lot more impressed by the studio shoot than the location shoot of Robert Mapplethorpe.

For me this was the most successful picture from the shoot. I put a black and white effect on the orginal image and then altered the curves and levels. this meant I could darken the background and make George's face a lot brighter as I noticed in Mapplethorpe's portraits that the faces of his models are often bright and white. George's moody expression also adds to the seriousness this picture exhales. Most of Mapplethorpe's models have no expression and rarlely look happy which is what inspired me.

This is the original version of the picture that I took of Alex. I left this one in colour without putting a black and white effect on it and therefore think that this was the picture with the weakest quality. In my opinion it looks more like I've been inspired by Mapplethorpe with the black and white effect which can be found in my straight images.

Progression

To escalate my photographs into more professional pieces, I'd want to next time plan the shoot beforehand so that I wasn't on the spot with ideas in the studio. I may also experiment with the white background instead of just the black one to make my photographs less harsh and dark. Mapplethorpe didn't only use a black backdrop, he also used a white one which is why I'd like to attempt this in future. It could make my images a lot more exposed, as the dark features and costume on the model would stand out instead of blending in. Examples of this have been demonstrated below.